Operation BLACKOUT
by Numbuh 212
Summary: Sector V and Numbuh 86 are watching a movie when the lights go out! Can they handle NUmbuh 86's scorn, Numbuh 3's fear, and the fact that none of them have had a decent night's sleep in days? Pairings: 286, 15, 34. Oneshot.


I don't own the KND

This fic is dedicated to my best friend Alex, who always gives me advice and never gets on here to read any of my stories. You are awesome!

Yeah, this is my first time trying to write Numbuh 86, so let me know if she sounds kind OOC.

Operation B.L.A.C.K.O.U.T

Busted

Lights

Always

Cause

Kids

Overly

Unreasonable

Trouble

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"Ugh! Do we hafta do this _every _Friday night?" moaned Wally as he helped Numbuh 5 pour popcorn into three large bowls.

"You better believe it, baby! Numbuh 5 _never _gets to watch any chick flicks at home."

"But why do us _boys_ have to come? Can't we go play video games or something?"

"Nuh-uh." Abby poured another cup of kernels into the popper. "We need _some _male indifference or else Numbuh 3'll turn it into a total sobfest and we'll all be up 'til four in the morning."

"Numbuh 86? At a sobfest?" Numbuh 4 snorted. "Puh-leeze."

"Hey, you know about her obsession with Rainbow Monkeys. The girl's not as tough as she wants everyone to think."

"Well, couldn't we at least watch a scary movie afterwards? Something without all of that lovey-dovey crud?"

Numbuh 5 glared at him from underneath her hat. "And are _you _volunteering to sit up with Kuki all night so she doesn't get any nightmares? 'Cause Numbuh 5 sure ain't doing it."

Numbuh 4 paused as if considering it, but when Numbuh 2 snickered he turned bright red and shook his head. "No! I mean, uh, no, I'm not."

"Riiight." Numbuh 2 hung up the phone, walked over to the fridge and began pulling out sodas. "Anyway, that was Numbuh 1. He and Numbuh 3 picked up the pizzas, and they're bringing Numbuh 86 with them."

"Blecch! I am _so_ gonna be somewhere else next Friday. Maybe we'll have a sooper ultra-importanic mission or something."

"Come on, Numbuh 4, it's not _that_ bad," said Hoagie as they carried all the refreshments into the TV room. "Besides, tomorrow is Saturday, so there'll be Yipper cartoons on all morning."

"Well, that's a relief." The Australian plopped down on one end of the couch with a bowl of popcorn. "When are the others gonna get here?" he asked, stuffing a huge handful of popcorn in his mouth and spraying kernels in every direction.

"Man, is that gross!" Numbuh 5 shook her head in disgust. "You better not do that when Numbuh 3 gets here."

Numbuh 2 snickered again, and Numbuh 4's bulging cheeks turned bright red. To is relief, however, he was saved from answering by the sound of the door opening.

In came Numbuh 1, followed by Numbuh 86, both of them carrying several pizza boxes. Behind them skipped Numbuh 3, waving a DVD case from Blockbuster. "We got _My Fair Lady_!" she squealed excitedly.

"Oh great, " groaned Wally, "a cruddy musical."

"Oh shush, Numbuh 4. You know you're gonna love it." Kuki started the movie despite Numbuh 4's cries of protest, then sat down next to him. "Shh," she said, putting her finger on his lips, "it's starting."

They sat squished together on the couch, which was built for five, during the overture. Abby sat next to Numbuh 3, and next to her were Nigel, Hoagie and Fanny. The redhead was _not_ happy about the seating arrangement, and was loudly voicing her opinion.

"Will you just shut up already?" said Numbuh 2 at last. "You're going to make us miss the opening number!"

Of course Numbuh 86 didn't stop complaining completely, but she did lower her voice to mutter under her breath.

They continued to watch the movie in relative silence until Eliza's solo, "Just You Wait, 'Enry 'Iggins." Despite his resolve not to enjoy the cruddy romance movie, Wally couldn't help but laugh at that one. "You tell him, Eliza," he said under his breath.

"What did you say?" asked Kuki.

"I didn't say nothing," he muttered.

"Yes you did."

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you _did_."

"No, I _didn't_."

"Hush," hissed Numbuh 1.

Suddenly the movie stopped and the lights went out.

"Hey, what the crud's going on?"

"Aieee! It's really dark!"

"Okay, which stupid _boy_ made the lights go out?"

"Numbuh 5 thinks maybe there was a power outage."

"That's unpossible! I just checked the hamsters yesterday, ad everything was fine."

"All right, everybody stay calm. Does anyone have a flashlight?"

"_I_ do." The light clicked on, and Numbuh 86 swung the beam around the room. "Unlike you boys, I came prepared."

"Very good, Fanny," said Numbuh 1 tiredly, "now if you'll give that flashlight to Numbuh 2, please."

"No way! My dad gave me this flashlight for my birthday, and I'm not going to let that _boy_ handle it. He'll probably drop it and break it into a buhmillion pieces."

"Well, then, you'll just have to go with him, I guess." Nigel had a small grin on his face, which absolutely infuriated Numbuh 86.

"I'm not going to go _with him_!" She flung her arms up in exasperation, causing the ray of light to wave wildly around the room. "Where is he going, anyway?"

"I've got to check on the main power source and figure out what's wrong. Though I must say, I'm completely _in the dark_ on this one." Hoagie laughed loudly. "Get it? In the dark! Because, you know, it's dark…"

Numbuh 1 rubbed his temples with both hands. "Just go, Numbuh 2."

"Numbuh 2 walked out the door, still chuckling. Fanny sighed loudly and followed him, grumbling and stomping her feet.

Of course, this meant the rest of Sector V was left without a light. Numbuh 3 clutched Numbuh 4's arm in the darkness. "Numbuh 4, I'm scared. What if some scary monster comes while it's dark?"

"It's okay, Kuki." He felt around until he found her hand and held it reassuringly. "Numbuh 2 will get the lights back on before we know it."

Numbuh 5 patted her shoulder from the other side. "Numbuh 4's right, Numbuh 3. Numbuh 2 will get everything working again in no time, you'll see."

She turned to Numbuh 1, or where he had been sitting when the lights went out, and stopped. Her eyes were slowly adjusting to the dark, and she could see that there was no one there. "Numbuh 1," called Abby worriedly, "where'd you go?"

"I'm right here." His voice came from inside his room. "I know I have a flashlight in my room somewh – ah, here it is! In fact, it looks like there are two of them in here." He came back out with a flashlight in either hand. "There you go, Numbuh 3," Nigel said, tossing her one of the flashlights. "I think that I'll take a quick look around, just in case."

"By yourself?" Numbuh 3 asked fearfully.

"Numbuh 5'll go with you. Buddy system, especially in the dark, right?"

"All right. Let's go." He began walking toward the door.

As soon as they were out of earshot of the others, Numbuh 5 stopped and turned to Numbuh 1. "If you had two flashlights in your bedroom, why did you send Numbuh 86 with Numbuh 2? You know they can't stand each other!"

"I just forgot," said Nigel dismissively.

Abby crossed her arms and glared, not buying it.

"Okay, so I like making Numbuh 86 mad." He smiled. "But you know, she does outrank us. If she really wanted to, she could have told you or Numbuh 3 to go with him. I'm sure she would trust you _girls _with her precious flashlight."

Abby grinned, and they started walking again. "Numbuh 5 thinks you might have a point there."

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Back in the TV room, Numbuh 3 had cheered up considerably, mostly due to Numbuh 4 making shadow puppets in the light from the flashlight.

"This one," he said, stacking one fist on top of the other, "is a gorilla."

Kuki squealed and clapped her hands. "Make a Rainbow Monkey," she pleaded.

"I can't do a cruddy Rainbow Monkey!" Her bottom lip trembled, and Wally immediately felt bad. "Here, c'mere and I'll show you how to make a dog."

She got up and rolled up her sleeves.

"First you fold these fingers like this," he placed his hand on hers and moved her fingers to where he needed them. "Then you point this finger forward like this…"

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"Move over!" Numbuh 2 dug his elbow into Numbuh 86's side. "How am I supposed to figure out what's wrong with this energy transformer if you keep getting in the way?"

"Well, I wouldn't be in the way if your big butt didn't take up so much room!"

Hoagie threw down his tools and stalked off into the darkness. "That's it! I can't work with you if you're going to be such a pain in the – OW!"

Fanny heard a crash and swung the light around toward the noise. "Can't you even walk without –" she started to ask, then stopped when she saw what had happened.

Numbuh 2 had stomped right into the doorframe, and had a huge cut across his forehead. His nose was bleeding as well, and he was pretty much a mess.

"Oh great. Now I have to take care of a _stupid _boy who's not smart enough to walk _through_ the door." She sighed and lifted Numbuh 2 to his feet. "Which way's your sick bay?"

"I can take care of it myself," he said thickly. "Let go of me!"

"Oh no you don't!" Numbuh 86 snapped, and held him steady. "It's pitch black, and I'm the one with the flashlight, remember? Now, we need something to stop the bleeding. Take of your shirt and give it here."

Hoagie glared stubbornly and didn't move.

"Do it _now_, before I take it off for you! It doesn't look like your nose is broken, but if you lose too much blood you'll pass out, and _then_ how will I get you to the sick bay?"

"Fine." Numbuh 2 reluctantly unbuttoned his light blue shirt and took it off. Fanny wadded it up and held it under his nose.

"See, you're even wearing a shirt underneath, you big wimp. Now, which way to the sick bay?"

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Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 5 had gone around the entire outside of the tree house without finding anything.

"What time is it?" asked Numbuh 5 at last.

Numbuh 1 swung the flashlight beam to his wrist and said, "It looks like it's about 12:30. Numbuh 2 is taking a pretty long time to fix whatever's wrong."

"I'd think anything with Numbuh 86 would take a long time."

"True," he agreed with a small smile. "Still, I think we should probably go make sure they haven't killed each other yet."

Abby looked shyly at Numbuh 1 out of the corner of her eye. "Numbuh 5 kind of likes the dark. It's…peaceful."

"Peaceful?"

"Yeah. Quiet, ya know? Maybe we could just sit and rest for a minute."

They both sat down on a step, and Numbuh 5 rested her head on Nigel's shoulder. The two of them sat in silence, and after a while Numbuh 1 realized that Abby had fallen asleep. He smiled gently. There had been almost nonstop missions all week, and his faithful second-in-command had barely slept five or six hours each night. Come to think of it, he hadn't slept all that much himself.

Nigel yawned, then rested his head on top of his teammate's. He would only rest for a few minutes. After all, he still had to check on Numbuhs 2 and 86, and he probably ought to see how Numbuhs 3 and 4 were doing…

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After Numbuh 4 had run out of shadow puppets, and told Numbuh 3 at least a dozen times that no, he could _not_ make a Rainbow Monkey, they had sat down on the couch. Not long after, the flashlight beam began flickering. Numbuh 4 glanced worriedly at Kuki, but she was yawning and didn't notice.

"I'm tired," said Numbuh 3, "I wish I had one of my Rainbow Monkeys."

Wally patted her awkwardly on the leg. "That's okay. Why don't you go to sleep, and I'll stay up with the flashlight."

"Okay." She yawned again, and laid down, resting her head in his lap. "G'night."

"Goodnight." Numbuh 4 waited until Kuki's deep, even breathing told him she was asleep, then switched off the light. They would need to save what battery power they had left.

He knew he couldn't fall asleep. He had promised Numbuh 3 he would stay awake, and he would. Nope, Wally wouldn't close his eyes for a sec…zzzzz.

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As soon as they had gotten to the sickbay, Numbuh 86 had busied herself with bandaging Hoagie's forehead. However, once that had been done, and the bleeding from his nose had stopped, there was nothing to do but lay down on the other bed and fall asleep

"Wake me up when it's morning," said Fanny, and almost immediately began to snore softly.

Numbuh 2 gingerly fingered the bandage on his head. Witch she may be, but at least Numbuh 86 was a passable medic. She had the right idea about sleeping, too. He would worry about the electricity in the morning.

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Numbuh 5 woke up the next morning with an awful crick in her neck. At first she didn't know why, but then she realized that she had slept the entire night sitting up wit her head on Numbuh 1's shoulder. Se sat up quickly when she remembered this, and saw that Nigel was already awake.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" His eyes behind the sunglasses were full of concern. "I know you haven't gotten much sleep lately."

"No, it's cool." Numbuh 5 stretched slightly and then yawned. "Numbuh 5's guessin' it's bagels for breakfast, 'cause the milk is probably spoiled without the refrigerator."

"Yeah." Numbuh 1 got to his feet and they walked back down the hall towards the TV room. When they got there Abby opened the door, then smiled and put a finger to her lips.

"Look," she whispered.

Nigel stuck his head into the room, and realized why Numbuh 5 was whispering. Numbuhs 3 and 4 were both asleep on the couch, Kuki's head on Wally's lap. Numbuh 4 was sitting up, as if keeping watch, but it was obvious from the way his head drooped that he had nodded off long ago.

They crept quietly back down the hall.

"Let's go see if Numbuh 2's made any progress," suggested Numbuh 5 softly. When Nigel nodded, they set off.

They hadn't gone far, however, when they ran into Numbuh 86.

"Aha, there you are. I was just looking for you. Where's Numbuh 3?"

"She's asleep with Numbuh 4 in the TV room," Numbuh 5 replied. "What did you need us for?"

"Last night Numbuh 2 – that _styoo_-pid _boy_ – walked into a doorframe in the dark. He got a gash in his forehead and a bloody nose, but otherwise he's fine."

"How could he walk into a doorframe?" Numbuh 1 looked sternly over the top of his sunglasses. "Weren't you holding the flashlight?"

Fanny completely exploded. "Don't you look at me like that! It's not my fault if that idiot decided to walk straight into the door! He's in the sickbay; you can go ask him yourself! I'm going home!"

"You can't," said Nigel calmly, stopping Numbuh 86 in midstride. "None of our vehicles are charged, except the emergency evacuation ship, and of course you can't use that one."

Fanny stared at him in disbelief. "What d'you mean no ships are charged? That goes against all Kids Next Door protocol!"

"Chill, Numbuh 86." Numbuh 5 put her hand on Fanny's shoulder. "We've been on missions all week, and the power was out all night. None of the vehicles have had enough time to charge, it could have happened to anybody. As soon as we've got the power up we'll call for a transport to come and get you. In the meantime, let's go get Numbuh 2. He's pretty much the only person who can fix this, and once we've seen to him we can get some breakfast. Numbuh 5 doesn't know 'bout you guys, but she's starving!"

Abby started off down the hall with Numbuh 1, and Numbuh 86 trailed reluctantly after them.

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When they reached the sickbay they found Numbuh 2 sitting up in bed and eating a slice of last night's pizza. Three more pieces lay in the open box beside him.

"Morning guys," he said through a mouthful of pepperoni. "Want some?"

"Ugh, no thanks. Numbuh 5'll wait for some bagels, baby."

"How is that forehead, Numbuh 2?" Nigel stepped forward to look as Numbuh 86 removed the bandage.

"It's going to be just fine," pronounced Fanny. "Just as long as this _idiot_ doesn't walk into another wall, he should be back to his normal infuriating self in no time."

"Excellent. Now, Numbuh 2, did you manage to fix the electricity?"

Hoagie looked down. "Well, um, actually, no, not really. From what I could see of the energy transformer," he glared at Numbuh 86, then looked back to Numbuh 1, "there's nothing wrong with our power. The problem has to be somewhere else."

Numbuh 1 paced back and forth across the sick bay. "What else could be causing the problem?"

"Could be just about anything, really. Downed power lines, electrical storm, even some house nearby using to much electricity. It could take a while to track down the exact cause."

"Well, we'll get on that as soon as we can. In the meantime, I believe Numbuh 5 is right. Let's all go to the kitchen and get some breakfast."

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On their way to the kitchen, the kids passed through the TV room, where Numbuhs 3 and 4 were just waking up.

"Good morning, guys!" called Numbuh 3, stretching.

"Wally, on the other hand, was slightly less chipper. "What time is it?" he grumbled.

"It's 8:30, Numbuh 4, a very reasonable time to get up. We're going to go get breakfast. You can come if you want." Abby led the way into the kitchen and set out a stack of plates and two bags of bagels. She opened the refrigerator and peered inside. "Rats!" Numbuh 5 turned to Nigel. "The milk is spoiled, Numbuh 1."

Numbuh 1 shrugged. "I guess we'll have juice, then."

The six operatives sat around the table, eating their bagels and chatting. Eventually the conversation turned to how disappointed they were not to have gotten to finish their movie.

"It was almost to the horse races," complained Hoagie. "That's my favorite part."

"_I_ like the part where she falls in love," sighed Kuki.

"Hey, you guys be quiet," said Numbuh 4. "I haven't seen all of it yet!"

Everybody stared at him.

"Numbuh 5 thought you hated all that 'lovey-dovey crud.'"

"Yeah, well, uh, what's the point of watching _any _movie if somebody already told you what happened?"

Abby looked skeptical, but just then the lights and the TV started playing.

"Hey the power's back on!" exclaimed Numbuh 2.

Fanny leapt to her feet. "I am _so_ outta here!"

"Aww, aren't you at least going to stay for the end of the movie?" Numbuh 3 folded her arms and pouted. "We're not finished yet."

Numbuh 86 looked from Kuki to the still-bandaged Hoagie and sighed. "Alright, but the minute the credits start I am _gone_."

"Yes!" Numbuh 3 clapped her hands and grinned. "I'll get some more popcorn!"

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Down the street in the Sanban residence, Mushi unplugged the last of the wires from her latest creation. Little did Kuki know that it was not Wally who had taken her newest Rainbow Monkey, but her own beloved little sister. After the failure of Mushi's last Rainbow Monkey project, she had run extensive tests. This time, she believed that she would really do it.

She watched in anticipation as the genetically altered Rainbow Monkey, 50,000 mega volts of power coursing through its stuffing, held its arms forward.

"Come on, come on, come on!" she whispered excitedly, clenching her fists.

The large plush creature opened its mouth wide, revealing a set of fearsome fangs, and said, "Would you like a hug?"

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

THE END


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